Finally!

[themummra]

10 years ago I went to a friends house and saw the saltwater tank he had. He told me about the zoas and propagating coral; ever since I have wanted to get into the saltwater hobby myself. I researched and planned getting into it multiple times but was never able to commit. That ended today.

I picked up a used Biocube 29 w/ stand as well as some miscellaneous supplies. There are a few reef stores around me and I plan on seeing if they have any good deals on live rock. Otherwise I'll be making an order by Friday! If things go well I should have the tank stocked with salt water, live rock and sand by March!

Here is the list of supplies I got, is there anything I shouldn't use or should upgrade? Most of it is 3 years old:
-Marine Buffer
-Marineland Activated Carbon
-API Nitrate Kit
-New Life Spectrum Marine Food
-Vita Chem
-Instant Ocean (IO) Reef Accelerator
-LaMotte pH test
-API Eco Calcium
-Mag Float Cleaner
-IO Hydrometer
-New Life Spectrum Optimum Salt H2O Flakes
-IO Marine Chips
-Koralia (I can't tell what model)

 

[ComforablyNumb]

Only thing I see that is of (mild) concern is the Marine Buffer. That product is intended to adjust the pH...and jigging around with the pH can often cause more harm than good.

Welcome to the reef world! I have found its a very interesting hobby.

 

[garethwood]

welcome to the ever consuming world of salt water tanks : )
good luck with your first build, i say first because you will be instantly planning your upgrade before the sand has settled lol.
Ide say check the expiry dates on all the test and things you have, if in doubt ditch them, believe its not worth chasing results from dodgy testing! also ide lose the hydrometer and invest in a refractometer. not an expensive bit of kit and a must. i dont no what your planning on as for cycling and speed of stocking but i can see your not someone who rushes so that's a plus. " nothing good happens quick in marines." you will here that alot. I wouldn't worry about all the dosing type elements you have until about 6 months in when your tank starts to grow up.. your salt water changes should keep everything happy for the early stages.
Ask questions lots of them, good luck and enjoy your new life... ide say hobby but ide be fooling you : )

Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk

 

[homer1475]

Only thing I see that is of (mild) concern is the Marine Buffer. That product is intended to adjust the pH...and jigging around with the pH can often cause more harm than good.

Welcome to the reef world! I have found its a very interesting hobby.

+1

Never chase your PH numbers. H*ll throw that PH test kit in the garbage too. Just keep an eye on Alkalinity, Calcium, and Magnesium and all the others will be fine. Most reefers(probably 99% of us) don't test for PH and without an apex probe, most of us couldn't even tell you what the PH of our tanks is.

 

[Shwimy]

Congrats on the bio cube do some research while the tank is cycling and have fun!

 

[homer1475]

If you scroll down on the main forum page, you'll find the nano section. There is a ton of biocube build threads to give you an idea on how much can be stocked, as well as some helpful mods.

I started with a 29G biocube, a year later and I'm in an 80G with a sump. It's an addictive hobby, welcome!

 

[themummra]

I've been checking that section out, its great!

Is it preferred to order live rock or get it from a store? I imagine there would be more random life on the rocks from an online place?

 

[roostertech]

API Nitrate test is somewhat useless if you are going to run low nutrient / sps system
Get a refractometer instead of hydrometer, salinity is too important to risk, especially in the smaller water volume

 

[scooter31707]

If the food is 3yrs old I would discard that and buy some more.

 

[MG98]

Definitely check out the 52 week reefing YouTube series. Search for BRS 160 on bulkreefsupply channel. There's a TON of good info and even though their tank is much larger the principles are pretty much the same. I learned a ton from it.

 

[themummra]

Made a thread

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2626614

 

[themummra]

Does anyone know why my thread doesn't show up unless Im logged in. Newer posts have 100+ views while mine is a week old and only has 17. Seems like its not viewable to a lot of people